Cook County IL Archives Biographies.....Aishton, Richard June 2, 1860 - October 3, 1946
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Peter Aishton paishton@comcast.net March 19, 2007, 1:58 am

Author: Peter K. Aishton

Richard Henry Aishton was born in England and came over to the U.S. as a young 
boy in 1870. His father was an English tea merchant and his business wa wiped 
out in the Chicago fire of 1871. In 1877 young Richard was supposed to attend 
Northwestern University in the fall. He took a summer job with the Chicago and 
Northwestern railroad on a surveying crew that was headed to the Dakota 
territories. The crew was attacked by Indians causing most of the crew to 
leave. After many months Richard returned to his parents' home in Evanston 
Illinois. He was dressed head to toe in western buckskin clothing and 
astounded his staid English parents. The Manager of the Chicago and 
Northwestern Railroad offered him a full time job purportedly because he was 
the only crew mwmber to stay on the job the entire time. He worked his way up 
the ranks of the railroad after starting in the engineering department as an 
axeman at $50.00 a month. When he retired from the railroad in 1918 as 
president, his salary had increased to almost $50,000.00 a year. He then went 
on to work in Washington, D.C. as President of the American Railway 
Association.

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